Bonnell: Would You Do Turkoglu for Diaw?

Rick Bonnell from the Charlotte Observer asks the question regarding a Diaw for Turk swap.

Would ya?

Makes me wonder: Would Turkoglu-for-Boris Diaw be a good swap for the Raptors and Bobcats?

The salaries are fairly close so you could do a deal without too much trouble. The upside and downside for each team:

The Bobcats would likely improve offensively, and the playoffs demonstrated they need that. Like Diaw, Turk gives you an extra ballhandler at the forward position. Unlike Diaw, Turk can be a consistent scoring threat.

That's the upside. The downside is the Bobcats would be worse defensively for this swap .Diaw can guard all five positions and generally without fouling out. Often the Bobcats' best lineup was going small with Diaw at center. He's always going to be frustrating for his seeming lack of passion, but Diaw's versatility at both ends would be missed. Replacing Diaw with Turk would force Gerald Wallace back into the role of guarding a lot of power forwards.

The most obvious upside for the Raptors would be moving a player who doesn't want to be there and who is owed a lot of money. Beyond that, the Raptors would improve defensively, and they're just about the worst defensive team in the NBA. Also, Diaw would provide some insurance at the power forward position should Chris Bosh leave in free-agency.

The downside? Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo knows all of Diaw's flaws from Colangelo's days running the Phoenix Suns. So he'd know Diaw looks better the first six months after you trade for him than he does two years later. And he'd know Diaw can be moody when he doesn't touch the ball as much as he'd like.

In a heart beat. Diaw played three positions in Phoenix, SF-C. He can rebound, play defense, handle the ball really well but is highly effective off the ball as well. He's the point forward that Raptors could use.